Grandma's Quilt

I finished sewing Grandma's quilt up last weekend and sent it off to her on Monday.  She received it Friday and is so thrilled with it.  She says that it matches her decor perfectly.  I am so happy that she loves it, because by the time that I was finished with it, I wanted to keep it for myself.

I ended up inserting a little strip in it to make it longer. When I originally cut up the squares I had decided on a certain dimension, but when it came time to sew the squares together, I didn't remember what I'd decided.  So I just guessed, and it turned out wrong. I had wanted to do 9 squares by 12 squares, but I sewed them together in 10 by 11 (and I had to cut a few more).  Then the quilt was too short and I had no more scraps to add in.  I was thinking about just adding a top border, but when I mentioned my problem to Katja, she suggested adding in a strip instead.  So I did, and I really liked the way it turned out.

I ended up quilting it in a zigzag pattern in the squares, and did a little stipple in the floral strip section.  I bound it in a peach check that was perfect for the quilt.  After I washed it up, it was so crinkly and soft and even better than I imagined.  I know that it will keep Grandma company through many evenings of TV watching.

I better go get going on my next quilt!  I have a long list of quilts to make....

xo Nicole

I'm Teaching!

This quilt is called Reversed Rainbows and I will be teaching a class on November 1st.  If you want to make one of your own, please sign up this week at Katja's Quilt Shoppe in Kamloops.  Hope to see you there!

xo Nicole

Placemats

 I made up a set of four placemats for my cousin for a wedding gift.  She just got married on the September long weekend.  I had some fun fruit fabric (alliteration anyone?) and combined it with some other fabrics in my stash.  I enjoyed putting in some colours that didn't match exactly, but I thought they spiced it up a bit.  When I tried adding colours that were a little closer match to the fruit fabrics, it looked really dull.

I added a fun striped fabric to the back so they can be reversible.   I quilted straight lines about 3/8" apart and a solid green binding was machine stitched on.  Once washed up they still look great.  The only thing that I am not so happy about is the way that the fabric looks like it has chevrons from the quilting.  Oh well, next time will be better.

xo Nicole

Doll Quilt Swap 11 Received!

I actually received it about a month ago, but forgot to blog about it!  I don't know why because I really love it.  It was made for me by a lovely woman, Wendy.  On Flickr, she is known as On a Whim / Little Whimsies.

She posted some sneak peeks during the construction phase, and I had commented that I really loved it and the colours were awesome.  I never dreamed that I would be receiving it!

She also included a couple extra goodies - magnets covered in coordinating fabrics, some fun pins and a little sticky note pad.  I love these too!

She called the quilt "Teddy Bear's Picnic" possibly because in one of my comments I mentioned that the tiny bear paws could be teddy bear's paws.  Whatever the case, I sincerely love it and it's hanging up behind my sewing machine now.  It inspires me everyday with it's tiny loveliness.

Have you ever made a mini quilt or a doll quilt?  You should - it's fun and fast!

xo Nicole